Palo Alto to ‘Rebound’ By Year-End, Say Local Realtors

The Palo Alto real estate market may be resilient, but it isn’t immune to the credit crisis — the total number of Palo Alto homes sold fell 60 percent last quarter, year-over-year. And while high-end sales have held up alright, the mid- to low-end of the market isn’t faring quite as well. As evidence: Sales of two-bedroom houses dropped 3 percent last quarter, and sales of three-bedroom houses dropped 8 percent. Meanwhile, sales of four-bedroom houses climbed 7 percent last quarter, year-over-year.

Still, local real estate brokers and market watchers are surprisingly optimistic that the market will “rebound” by year’s end, according to a Palo Alto Online report. At a community forum, Mark Duval, chief investment officer for Opes Advisors, predicted the market could turn around by the end of 2009.

“Long-term economic growth in the U.S. is positive,” he reportedly said. “[It] will keep a premium for housing in this area.”